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Shooting fawns/yearlings

Old 01-15-2008, 08:21 PM
  #1  
Fork Horn
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Default Shooting fawns/yearlings

I was just reading a post in the bowhunting section that stated a guy shot a fawn. He said they eat everything they kill...What is the consensus? I was taught not to shoot yearlings or fawns......
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Old 01-15-2008, 08:36 PM
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

umm it depends. I have shot fawns and yearlings, but only when they have come out on drives and are running pretty hard. As long as you have proper tags, it is up to each person and landowner. When bowhunting I pass up yearlings and fawns and wait on the more mature deer, but it is sometimes hard to judge when driving thick swamps or big timber.
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Old 01-15-2008, 08:51 PM
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

From a managment standpoint a mouth is a mouth - and fawns are usually legal game. Its not my preferred harvest personally, but anyone that gives you flack doesn't understand herd management. Eating wise - you'll get spoiled with the meat. I know hunters that save a tag for a plump 6 month old deer - for that reason.

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Old 01-15-2008, 09:06 PM
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

Nope I dont shoot them. Let em grow up... But thats me. Others say oh it taste so good. A deer taste like a deer even if its a fawn. Sure it maybe tender but I think a 3 year old doe tastes just as good as a fawn. The fawn is only tender thats all. But like I said thats me... For me its a waste to process a 70lb fawn compared to a 130lb doe. If Im going thru all that process to cut up a deer and process I want more than 25lbs of meat if that. The clean up on the grinder is enough and takes longer to clean it than cutting up a fawn. But again thats me...
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Old 01-15-2008, 10:04 PM
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

I agree with Arrowmaster about processing. Hate to go thru the ropes and only get a little bit of meat. I do hunt with a lot of guys though that beleive, ifyou shoot a yearling doe, shes not breeding yet soyou havent taken away next years yearling buck.
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Old 01-16-2008, 12:29 AM
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

I will never shoot a fawn. I can't say i won't ever shoot a yearling but its 99% not likely unless its the last day of the season and i need to fill a tag and it would still take quite a bit for me to pull the trigger.
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Old 01-16-2008, 02:15 AM
  #7  
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

We hunt in Southern Iowa. Deer are cosidered to be overpopulated and each of these counties has an antlerless tag quota. These tags are sold until they run out on a first come first serve basis. As far as I know, the county that I hunt in has never sold out.

I hunt on my cousin's farms and deer damage to his crops is a concern to him. My boy and I always buy doe tags and hold the any sex tag in reserve for a shooter buck. Half of the deer in the field in the fall are fawns and about half the deer we shoot are fawns. Keep in mind that deer here usually are pregnant before they are a year old. If you shoot a doe fawn there are two fewer deer the next year. If you shoot an older doe there are three fewer deer the next year because they nearly always have twins. The only deer I would pass on would be a young buck. Two reasons for this, males do not get pregnant, and it is nice to shoot that little buck when it is older. Of the nine deer we processed this year, two were nice bucks, one was a small buck one was a spike, one was a button (fawn), one was an adult doe, one a yearling doe, and two were fawn does. The spike and button were thought to be does when shot.

I'm thinking of requiring the guys that I hunt with to buy doe tags. They cannot hunt on my cousin's farm unless my son or I am with them so I can if I wish. This will encourage more doe and fawn shooting which will please my cousin and will cause them to be more selective in the bucks they shoot. Since the state started actively encouraging doe shooting by selling doe tags, we see more and bigger bucks than we used to even though deer numbers are down slightly.

I personally think that a hunter who shoots the first deer that walks by in an anysex hunt does more good than a hunter who shoots bucks only. The non selective hunter shoots more fawns and does so the average buck ends up being larger. You are part of the problem if you only shoot bucks in an area that is overpopulated. I'm beginning to like the idea that you must shoot a doe or antlerless buck before you can even get a buck tag.

I don't care if a novice or kid shoots a small buck because success if what hooks them but now that all but one in my group have shot a nice buck I am going to expect them to pass on small bucks and take antlerless deer or bigger bucks.

My brother in law who just started hunting with us is exempted because he has never shot a deer.

Again, the area we hunt is considered to be over populated with deer. When you wish to expand a deer population, a bucks only attitude is more appropriate.

Bambi must die.

Bob
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Old 01-16-2008, 04:46 AM
  #8  
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

I'll shoot a bigger fawn later in the year. they eat good & I can butcher them pretty quick. Plus we have a lot of deer so, its not a big deal.
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Old 01-16-2008, 05:33 AM
  #9  
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

I try not to but ended up shooting a nubber this past gun seasonhere in Wisconsin.[:@]
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Old 01-16-2008, 05:51 AM
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Default RE: Shooting fawns/yearlings

I accidentally shot a nub buck when i first started hunting, but don't make a practice of it. All deer are legal in texas as long as you have a tag.
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